Cap Tex Tri

It's done. The Cap Tex Tri is over. 1500 meter swim (about a one mile swim), 25 mile bike ride, 6.2 mile run. Below is how the race went.

My goal for this race was to finish in under three hours. Little did I know that I would make a big mistake before the race even started. I did this race with a couple of friends. Myself and my friend stayed in a hotel in austin about 10 minutes from the race. We woke up at 5 am on race day to get our gear together and the truck loaded up, body making started at 6 am. One of the great things about this race is that they let you rack your bike the day before (after it was inspected) so you didn't have to worry about it the morning of the race.

We arrived and were body marked but our swim wave didn't start until 2 hours later. We were in the water at about 8:15. I borrowed a wetsuit, I'm glad i did, the water was 69 degrees. The swim went well, I got beat up a couple of times at the beginning and end of the swim. There were a lot of people. I didn't swim straight so I had to change direction a few times. I finished the swim in 29 minutes. When you arrived at the finish of the swim, a volunteer would pull you up out of the water and unzipp your wetsuit, then they would push you up the ramp. There were a lot of people so they had to get you out of the way as quickly as possible.

My transition to the bike went well, the wetsuit came off easily. I exited the transiton area and jumped on my bike. The bike was done by completing 4 six mile loops. The first loop was ok, the second loop was better. The third loop, this is were my mistake at the beginning of the race would take its toll. I only took one water bottle of Gatorade on the bike with me. I should have taken one bottle of Gatorade and one bottle of water. I finished the bottle of Gatorade around the end of my second lap. I started to get very thirsty and my legs were getting tired, but i had nothing to drink. I finsished the bike on 1 hour and 25 minutes.

My transition from bike to run went well until i noticed my stomach was cramping. I assumed this was from the lack of fluids on the bike. Not drinking enough on the bike cost me a lot time on the run. I couldn't run the pace I wanted to because of the cramping in my stomach. I walked at every water station to make sure I drank the entire cup of water. I alternated water and Gotorade during the run. At this point my goal was to finish without needing and IV. I new I would not make my goal of completing the race in under three hours, but I was not going to quit.

I crossed the finish line completely exhausted. My lovely wife was at the finsih line waiting for me. I was so glad to see her. After the race i began to rehydrate slowly. We went to the Hula Hut and ate lunch, I didn't eat much, my stomach was still upset. I sipped on water and gatorade the remainder of the day. I did eat a good dinner that evening.

I finish the race with a time of 2:59:43. I messed up by not taking enough fluids on the bike but I did not give up and I still met my goal.